


New Neighbors

by stonyunited



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Flirting, Getting Together, M/M, Mechanic!Tony, Mild Language, Neighbors AU, Nick Fury - Freeform, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oblivious Tony Stark, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past!Tony/Tiberius, Slow Build, cheating relationship, lame humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:37:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonyunited/pseuds/stonyunited
Summary: The one where Tony goes through a horrible break up, his neighbor is a sweet, hot, blond guy, and his friend tries to play match-maker.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some chapters might contain some mild smut so before each chapter I'll give a little warning so you can decide if you want to skip over it or not :) 
> 
> Warning: Some language
> 
> Edit: Changed the rating to explicit, just in case!

It all started out when I died. Like literally. Well not ‘literally’ but it felt like I died. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and shredded into a million pieces. Of course you can thank Tiberius Stone for that. That two-faced asshole who never truly cared for my feelings at all. He was good at what he did too. Ty would pretend to care for me and once I was too far gone and madly in love with my ex-boyfriend, Ty broke my heart. Again. I gave him way too many chances. He would say he changed, but once a cheater always a cheater. I should start over, give you more of a sense of what I'm talking about so I’m not rambling like a buffoon. Tiberius was my boyfriend all throughout high school. I trusted him and he trusted me. We even made plans to go to college together and share an apartment in Malibu, California. The whole sha-bang. However, the plan all crashed and burned when I walked in on my ‘boyfriend’ getting freaky with the captain of the cheerleader squad. Tiberius tried to explain that he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Did he honestly think I was stupid? I may not be good at relationships but I do know that when you’re dating someone, you shouldn’t be shoving your tongue down someone else’s throat.

Long story short, Ty cheated on me, I went through this massive depression stage, and I moved away from my old high school, college, and from Ty. I needed a new life, a fresh start sort of speak. However, I’m not starting this new life by myself! I brought my best buddy along for the wild ride. Don’t let him kid you if he says he didn’t want to move in with me. He secretly loves me, I know it. Three years later and me and Rhodey are still living in an apartment in New York City. Life was good until Rhodey decided to start convincing me to get back out there again. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” I had asked him as I poked my head into the fridge to receive a beer before slamming the door shut. 

“It’s been three years, Tones. You’re lonely and-“Rhodey started to say before I raised my voice to interrupt him. 

“I’m not lonely, I have you!” 

“And I just think it’d be good for your mental health if you at least consider meeting someone.” Rhodey said, completely ignoring my outburst. Of course he thinks that meeting someone would be healthy for me. Being in a relationship did nothing for me except break my heart and give me depression for months. Nothing good comes out of loving someone who’s just going to eventually break your heart one way or another. 

“Tell me, how was Tiberius good for my mental health?” I asked with a raised eyebrow before plopping my ass into the nearest couch and setting my socked feet up on the coffee table, beer still in hand. 

“Okay so you’re just going to give up on love all together because you had one bad relationship? Not all guys are jerks like him!” Rhodey exclaimed before hopping off from the bar stool in the kitchen and making his way to the window in the living room. 

“I don’t need a relationship to make me happy, Rhodey.” I pipe up as I pop off the beer bottle cap and toss it across the room before taking a few chugs of it. 

“Are you happy?” Rhodey asked me with a quiet voice as he peered out of the living room window and looked down at the busy New York Street. The question for sure caught me off guard. I mean, I was happy with Rhodey! Yeah and Rhodey couldn’t always hang out with me 24/7 but I was still pretty happy…kind of. 

“It looks like people are moving in today.” Rhodey said, trying to change the tense subject when he heard that I wasn’t responding to his previous question. 

“Great.” I mumbled under my breath. “More stuck up neighbors who’ll bang on my door and yell at me to turn my music down. It’s not always about them!” I said defensively. 

“Yeah but blasting your rock music in a small enclosed room isn’t the smartest idea. Maybe you should be a little more respectful of your fellow neighbors.” Rhodey suggested with a nonchalant shrug before he pushed himself away from the wall and walked closer to the couch that I was still seated on. I rolled my eyes at my friend before reaching towards the TV remote. 

“Fine, whatever. Wallow in self-pity. I gotta go to work.” Rhodey said with a sigh before snatching his car keys and phone on the kitchen counter. 

“I’m not wallowing in self-pity!” I called to him as I heard Rhodey slam my apartment door shut. “I’m not wallowing in self-pity.” I repeated to just myself. It was like I was reminding myself that I wasn’t. That night as I worked on upgrading my phone, I could hear footsteps going up and down the apartment hallway, with doors being slammed in the process. I could hear faint chatter from two people before more footsteps took place. Great, new neighbors and they can’t even keep it down. I just hum to myself before I reached over my desk and turned on my radio to block out all other surrounding noises. The music ringed in my ears as I tapped my foot to the beat. My head snapped up however when I heard a loud banging at my front door. Of course my new neighbors would be all cranky about my masterpiece of music. They obviously don't have good taste in music. 

I slide off my bed and turned the radio off before jogging out into the living room. I peeked through the little peep hole on my door to see a young man with long-ish brown hair with a very annoyed expression on his face. I took a big breathe before swinging open my door with the best fake smile that I could muster.

“Can I help you?” I asked as I kept my foot behind the door so it couldn’t open any further. 

“Yeah, keep your fucking music down.” The man said with a growl. Wow, isn’t he a lovely new neighbor. 

“Okay listen pall, I’m trying to work. Music helps me work.” I said, my face hurting with the smile that I still plastered on my face. The young man gave me a raised eyebrow before sighing. 

“Listen, I don’t live here but my best friend does. You’re lucky he’s too nice to complain himself. So be a little respectful and keep your music down.” The man said before he quickly turned around on his heels and walked back into the door that was across from my apartment.  
“These neighbors are going to be a joy.” I mumbled under my breathe before shutting the door, making sure it was locked, before trudging back into my bedroom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve's POV I flipped a page in my book when I heard the door open and close. I glanced up to see Bucky walk back in with an annoyed expression.

“Is he going to keep his music down?” I asked hopefully as I sat my book on the coffee table. 

“Yeah, I hope so. If not, call me and I’ll give him a piece of my mind.” Bucky grumbled under his breath before plopping himself on the coffee table. 

“We’re going to try and be nice to our neighbors. They were here first after all.” I said with a nonchalant shrug before I hopped off the couch and walked over to one of the many moving boxes that were pressed up against the wall. 

“Steve, you’re not going to get far in life if you’re going to be ‘nice’” Bucky said as he watched me intently.

“I’m doing fine so far with being nice, just saying. Shouldn’t you be heading home anyway?” I asked as I opened up a box and peered down at my art supplies that were in it. Bucky mumbled something about ‘stupid work in the morning’ before giving me a bye then leaving the apartment. I wave my hand at him before pulling out my sketchbook and headed to my bedroom to try and get my rest. I really hope Bucky didn’t offend my new neighbor, because that might be a nightmare if he already hates me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slight nudity, minor language  
> -  
> I hope y'all like it! Sorry for the kinda long wait ^_^ I'm sorry if there's any mistakes!

The bright sun started to shine through the blinds that hung on my window, the rays hitting and brightening up my face. "Mm, turn it off." I mumble to myself as I buried my face deeper into my white fluffy pillow just as my phone alarm started to go off. "Fuck." I whisper, not caring that I was mumbling to myself. Most genius and intellectual people mumble to themselves, don't judge me. 

Anyway, I fumbled my arm out and tried to locate my phone that was still buzzing on my nightstand. I flung my arm out, my fingers itching to grab my phone but I flinched when I heard the loud thump of the still buzzing phone hitting the ground. I let out a long drawn out groan before leaning out of bed to pick back up my device and successfully turned the alarm off. I noticed I had two texts from Rhodey and one missed call from my dad. I really wasn't in the mood to get a lecture about god knows what from my old man, this morning. I had other issues swimming around my head, like my job and career and other important stuff that I can't think of right now.

After I slide out of bed and get cleaned up, like taking a shower and getting into my work uniform, I jog out into my kitchen to grab a quick snack. I pick up an apple off of my fruit bowl before pocketing my phone and wallet. I bit down on my apple to keep it in my mouth as I walked out of my apartment and used my key to lock up my door. I could hear my neighbor open their door also and I secretly rolled my eyes before spinning around on my heels to face my annoyingly...hot...neighbor. In front of me was a very muscled blonde, SHIRTLESS muscled blonde who was bending down to pick up what looks like a newspaper with...a small hand towel which he used to cover his groin area. I open my mouth which resulted in my apple dropping to the floor with a loud thump. The blonde quickly looked up at me, one hand still covering his man parts with the hand towel while the other hand now held onto the daily newspaper. 

"Hey! I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't realize anybody was out here." The blonde finally said, breaking the awkward silence. I could notice his cheeks start to turn a light color of pink. It took all my willpower to avert my eyes elsewhere so I didn't look like some kind of creep...even though he was the one practically naked. I quickly bend down to pick up my fallen apple while I tried to collect my voice that seemed to not want to come out.

"No sweat." I said, internally flinching at how my voice cracked. "I was just uh...leaving." I said before motioning towards the elevator. The muscled blue eyed man gave me a short nod before giving me a wave with the folded up newspaper. 

"See you around then." He said before backing up back into his apartment and slamming the door closed behind him. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding before feeling a little heated underneath my collar. 

"Well then." I mumble under my breath before making a beeline towards the elevator, feeling my cheeks start to heat up. Okay so my new neighbor is an incredibly hot, blonde hair, blue eye, muscly guy who walks around in his apartment in the nude. No big deal, I thought. After I was able to get down into the lobby, I decided to have a little chat with my favorite doorman.

"So who's the new guy that just moved in?" I asked nonchalantly as I tried to show interest in my key chain that was hooked to my belt.

"The blonde? All I know is his name is Steve...some kid from Brooklyn I think." The doorman, Happy, said as he leaned against the nearest wall. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason, just curious." I quickly replied before tossing my apple into the nearest trashcan and rubbed at my wrist in silence.

"He seems like a nice guy." Happy spoke up, breaking the silence that was between them.

"I'm sure he is. Well, I gotta get to work before Fury kicks my ass." I said before casually strutting out of the apartment lobby.

"Try not to have a car fall on top of you this time!" Happy called after me with a laugh. I flip him off with my middle finger, but couldn't help but let out a half smile, as I walk towards my car. Yeah working as a mechanic could be dangerous! Especially when you don't have your jack secured properly and the car falls on top of you while you're under it. Trust me...it can happen. Somehow my mind wasn't on my job, or my boss, or even getting injured by a car. My mind was on my neighbor, how his muscles rippled against his skin went he bent over. How if he just lowered that hand towel a little bit, I could see-I quickly shake my head to get rid of that imagine. "I am not a pervert." I said quietly to myself before I drove to work. My neighbor, Steve, will not interfere with my thinking brain at work. Absolutely not.

I got to work only just five minutes late and already started working on the car that was due to get its brakes fit today. Sometime went by, maybe a couple of hours, until I felt someone nudge at my leg. I slowly slide myself out from underneath the car and looked up at my boss. 

"What?" I asked, trying desperately to hide my annoyed tone in my voice. Nick hated when I was sassy to him. He said it was disrespectful. 

"I have a customer that needs to get his vehicle fixed." Fury informed me as he snatched a towel off of the nearest table and handed it to me. I took it before cleaning off the oil from my hands.

"What kind of car do they own?" I asked before pulling myself off the floor by using my steady toolbox.

"Not really a car. Its a Yamaha FZ-07 motorcycle." Fury replied with an impressed expression upon his face. I scrunch up my face in disgust before tossing the towel across the room.

"We don't fix up motorcycles though." I said as I rubbed a smudge off the door of the SUV I was working on.

"Yeah, we don't but /you/ do. He's willing to pay us so do what you gotta do to fix whatever the problem is. Get it done quickly." Fury ordered before quickly leaving to his office to probably get some more paperwork done. I sigh way to dramatically before walking into the car workshop waiting room where the receptionist, Pepper, typed behind her desk.

"What can I do for-" Tony started to say to his customer before he looked up to see who it was. My neighbor Steve, my hot neighbor Steve, was sitting in one of the waiting chairs, with his stupid perfect hair and clothed on this time. He looked up at me and gave me a half smile that made my heart melt.

Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

I froze in my spot as my brown eyes roamed over my neighbors posture. Steve was hunched over, looking at his phone. However when I walked into the lobby, blue eyes looked up at me. Steve's pink lips twitched into a half smile before he stood up. He looked a little different with clothes on.

"Hey! I-I didn't know you worked here." Steve said as he shifted between leaning against each leg. Yeah you didn't know about that because we barely met before, I thought to myself but figured it wasn't the most 'polite' thing to say at the moment. Rhodey should be proud. 

"Surprise." I said, trying my hardest not to add some jazz hands. Steve smiled brighter before rubbing his hands against the sides of his jeand and awkwardly stood there like he was waiting for me to start speaking first. I raised my eyebrow at him before clearing my throat. "Can I help you?" I asked. Steve's head shot up so he was able to look up at me before quickly nodding.

"Yeah um, my motorcycle's engine is having some trouble. Would you mind looking at it?" Steve asked as he stuck his fingers into the back of his jean pocket. I give a nonchalant shrug before motioning towards the doorway that would lead us out of the lobby and to the garage. 

"I can give it a once over look, sure. Just bring it around back." Tony said and Steve nodded in understanding. I waited until the blonde left the lobby to go get his bike before heading into the garage. Steve drove his motorcycle into the workshop garage and my brown eyes studied his form as he dismounted the bike. I clapped my hands together before rubbing the palms of my hands together in excitement. 

"Well let me take a look." I said before kneeling down besides the beautiful and shiny bike. Steve must keep it in great condition. I noticed drops of oil dripping out of the bike engine and I clicked my tongue against the back of my teeth. 

"So? What does it look like?" I heard Steve ask me from somewhere in the workshop. I glanced up at blue eyes before pointing to the pile of oil that has collected on the ground. Steve's eyes followed to where I was pointing before slowly nodding. "There's a leak?" He asked with a deep frown on his face. 

I sigh before pulling myself up with the bike. How did he not know his vehicle was leaking?? "Well from just looking at it, it could be a puncture in the oil feed pipe or the oil passageway. Either way, it could take a few hours to fix. Especially since I don't work on motorcycles all to often." I said before crossing my arms over my chest.

"A few hours?" Steve echoed before mumbling quietly to myself. "I uh...I gotta go home but it's a long way back." Steve said awkwardly before glancing down at the golden watch around his wrist. 

"Do you have someone you could call to take you home?" I asked, secretly hoping that he wouldn't have a ride so he'd just stay here and hang out in the workshop with me. Of course I was never going to admit that.

"Ye-yeah I have a friend I can call. They're at work so they might not get here for a little bit." Steve started to say slowly as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"You can stay here for the time being!" I said probably all to quickly by the look of surprise on Steve's face. "If you want too." I added with a half smile. Steve matched my half smile before giving a short nod. I heard Steve muster a 'thank you' before sitting down in the nearest chair. I watched his elegant and charming movements before forcing my eyes away from him. I decided to get straight to work with the motorcycle engine. How hard could it be working with my hot blond neighbor who was sitting across the other side of the room.

It was starting to work out really well before I could swear that eyes were staring at my backside as I worked on the engine. I frowned before glancing over at Steve from over my shoulder. My company quickly looked back down at his phone like he wasn't just watching me  work a few seconds ago. My lips twitched into a half smile before wiping my oily hands with the nearest hand towel.

"You're awfully quiet over there. Don't be afraid to strike up a conversation, I don't bite." I said before giving Steve the best sweetest smile I could muster. Steve matched my smile before he turned off phone and then leaned his elbow against his knee. 

"Okay fine. How long have you been a mechanic, Tony?" Steve asked with an intrigued expression on his face. I let out a boring sigh before turning my attention back to the engine that I've taking mostly apart.

"Go straight towards the boring topics, I see." I mutter under my breath.

"You said that I should-" 

"How did you know my name was Tony anyway?" I interrupted him with a curious expression. Steve huffed in annoyance before his crystal blue eyes darted down to my chest. 

"Your name tag." Steve replied. 

"Oh." Was all I said before I let out a quiet chuckle. 

"What's so funny?" Steve asked with a frown and that annoyed expression back on his face. He was cute when he tried to be annoyed with me. 

"Nothing...well not nothing, I'm just thinking about the first time we met and you had nothing on but a hand towel. Which leads me to my next question, what were you doing walking around your apartment in your birthday suit?" I asked as my lips twitched into a teasing smile before turning my body towards the blond. I could see the tip of Steve's ears turn a nice shade of pink as he averted his eyes away from mine. 

"It's a very long story." Steve breathed out as he leaned back against the chair.

"I've got time." I quickly replied as I wiped my dirty hands with the towel again.

"A story I'm not going to share with a complete stranger." Steve said with a raised eyebrow. 

"I'm not a complete stranger!" I said defensively. "You know my name, where I work AND where I live. Not strangers at all." I quickly added before throwing the now dirty towel across the room. Steve stared at me for a split second before the silence was broken by his phone buzzing with a text message.

"My friends here, I gotta go." Steve quickly said. He sounded like he was desperate to leave here, I don't blame him. "Bye Tony." He added before leave me alone in the garage. I watched him leave, my eyes looking down at his ass as he walked away before turning back to the leaky engine.

"I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut." I mumble to myself before rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand. 

"Try a filter." My co-worker, Clint, said from the other side of the room. "He's cute." He added before jumping off the desk that he was perched on. How long has he been in here?

"Shut up and hand me that screwdriver." I ordered, holding out my hand. Clint just rolled his eyes before placing the tool in the palm of my hand. 

"I thought you didn't work on motorcycles." Clint pointed out before a teasing smile appeared on his face. "Or are you doing it for Mr. Hot blond?" 

"Do you shut up?" I asked in annoyance as I turned my attention back to the engine. "Yes he's cute but anyone with eyes can see that. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to work."   
Clint just shrugged before heading towards the door. I waited until he left the room before sighing softly. He's just cute. Nothing more, nothing less.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I was having writers block, but I hope this chapter was okay!! :) I'm also sorry for any grammar issues !

The dark clouds started to swirl around the sky as the clock shown five o'clock in the afternoon. It was closing time and the last customer was able to drive away in their car with their tires replaced. Fury got a call earlier that day that Steve would be here in the morning to pick up his motorcycle. 

I locked up the shop before heading to my car, trying to find my car keys that I thought was in my jean pocket. Once I felt the first of many rain drop on my head, I realized that I didn't have my keys in my pocket. I pulled on the door handle that was on my car to see that it was, sadly and unfortunately, locked. I gave it a few more tugs for the heck of it and that's when I saw my car keys still in the ignition.

"Fucking fantastic!" I yelled out in frustration before slamming the palm of my hand roughly against the roof of my car just as more rain drops fell down. I could hear the drops splat against the windows of the car and I threw my hands up in surrender. 

"Whatever, I'll walk home. I needed a shower anyway." I mumbled under my breath before shoving my hands into my jean pockets as I headed down the empty sidewalk. The rain started to fall down more rapidly and coat the street and sidewalk with water. I had my head hanging down low as I found fascination in the rain falling down onto the sidewalk, having the pavement turn a darker gray as it started getting more wet. I could feel my brunet hair start to plaster to my forehead. I raised my head to push my hair out of my eyes when I looked over at the coffee cafe, it looked warm and dry inside. However my interest was elsewhere and I noticed none other than Steve sitting around the table with a few other people, drinking coffee or whatever hot drink this place serves. Now that I thought about it, I could really go for something warm to drink. I walked into the cafe, hearing the familiar bell go off that a new customer had entered. I took off my almost completely soaked coat and hung it up on the coat rack before strutting over to the cashier. I could feel eyes on me as I leaned up against the counter, my brown eyes roaming all across the menu. I ordered my drink and pretended to be looking at my phone while I waited for my order.

"Hey, isn't that your neighbor?" I heard someone whisper over by Steve's table and I smiled to myself before risking a glance over where they were. All four people, including Steve, was staring at me but when I made eye contact with the group, they all turned away from me. Except Steve. 

"So are you stalking me now?" Steve pipped up with a raised eyebrow. 

"You're the one who showed up to my work, babe." I said and mentally patted myself on the back when I saw the tip of Steve's ears start to turn pink. It was probably because of the endearing name calling. At this moment, I decided to call Steve more names like that just to see the gorgeous blush that crosses over his cheeks. Steve opened his mouth to say something back but then just brought his drink up to his mouth and took several sips of whatever he was drinking. The young girl behind the counter handed me my hot coffee and I thanked her before taking a small sip of it, loving the warm burn that tickled down my throat.

I gave a wink towards Steve and noticed how the blonde tried to ignore my flirtatious gesture towards him. My lips twitched into a small smile before I swiftly turned around on my heels to leave the cafe and I ran right into another customer that was behind me. My hot coffee went spilling everywhere down the front of my shirt and my jeans.

"What the fuck, man!!" I yelled out as I could feel the hot coffee seap through my shirt and start to burn at my skin. 

"I'm-I'm so sorry!" The customer tried to stutter out just as Steve quickly ran up to us with a handful of napkins. 

"Come here." Steve quickly said as he grabbed my elbow and led me into the boy's restroom. Steve was quickly dabbing the napkins against my wet and sticky shirt before his hand moved down to dab the napkin against the front of my pants.

"Whoa!" I shouted, jumping away from Steve's hand. "Above the waist fella." I said as Steve's cheeks started to turn a light pink color.

"Sorry." Steve mumbled under his breath as he started to wet the napkin and squeezed out any access water into the sink. "Okay unbutton your shirt so I can cool down your skin." He quickly added. 

"We should at least go on a date first before we get all handsie with each other." I said which made Steve smile and that made my heart skip a beat. "It's okay. The coffee wasn't that hot, I'm okay." I added to try and reassure Steve. His shoulders relaxed a little bit at my words before placing the wet napkins on the side of the sink. 

"Okay, you sure? I know how hot coffee is on bare skin." Steve said before crossing his arms over his chest, his muscles pulsing through his plaid shirt. 

"Yeah I'm okay, Blondie. I'll just change my clothes when I get home. Thanks by the way." I said before starting to shift my weight onto each of my feet. 

"Okay good, good...so I'll see you tomorrow when I pick up my motorcycle, right?" Steve asked as he pushed some blond strands of hair away from his forehead. I tracked the movement with my eyes before giving Steve a big and comforting smile. Me and Steve both made eye contact for the first time that night and we stayed like that for a good minute before slowly Steve turned his head away from me. 

"I'll see you around, Tony." Steve whispered. He gave my shoulder a soft pat with his hand before turning to leave the bathroom.

"How about tomorrow at my place, around six?" I quickly said before I could stop myself and think about what a bad idea this was. Steve froze in his spot before glancing back towards me.

"I can order pizza, we can discuss details about your motorcycles." I added as I smiled at him. 

"Do you have movies?" Steve asked as he still had his back towards me.

"I have all kinds of movies. Maybe we can even talk about why you were naked in your apartment?" I asked hopefully.

"Don't push it, Stark." Steve said with a snort of laughter before quickly leaving me alone in the bathroom. I stood there in the middle of the room by myself as I tried to replay our conversation in my head. 

"So was that a yes?" I asked to myself, my lips twitching into an excited smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Today. Today at six. Steve was going to pick up his motorcycle today then later, he'll be over at my house. I tried not to get all giddy and desperately tried to not make such a big deal out of it. Steve was just my neighbor who's going to hang out with me...nothing more, nothing less.

"You just met this dude and you already asked him out on a date? Sounds a little to desperate, Tony." Clint stated from the table edge he was perched on, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand, as he kicked his legs back and forth like a toddler would.

"It's not a date. A date is when two people who feel some sort of romantic attraction meet at a romantic restaurant and have dinner." I replied as I tossed my dirty hand towel across the room once I was done cleaning my grimy hands. 

"Or if we're taking the definition of date from the urban dictionary, it basically means a date that's gonna end in sex." Clint retorted and that made me shoot him a glare which resulted in Clint holding his hands up in surrender.

It was during our lunch break when Steve stopped into the shop. I was in the corner with Clint, a pizza box that was already half empty in front of us. I picked off a piece of mushroom from my slice and tossed it back into the box before I looked up at Steve who was talking to our receptionist about who knows what. His body leaning casually against the metal desk. It should be illegal for someone to look that laidback but still look extremely cute. Steve's head turned towards me and we both made eye contact. I smiled behind the pizza that was half way in my mouth just as Steve thanked the girl behind the desk and made his way over to our small circular table. 

"Hey!" Steve said cheerfully and I replied by giving him a half wave as I now had a mouthful of pizza in my mouth. I didn't trust myself to speak and have pieces of pizza flying out of my mouth, I couldn't risk that and completely embarrass myself and make Steve think I'm some sort of slob or something. I could tell Steve started getting a little awkward from just standing there as I chewed on my food before clearing my throat when it was all gone.

"Right this way, Rogers." I instructed as I wiped my greasy hands on the sides of my jeans, all the while ignoring Clint's smirk, before leading Steve into the back of the room where his motorcycle stood up proudly. It's new coat of paint sparked from under the light of the lamp. I quickly walked over to the nearest table to retrieve the keys as Steve examined his vehicle with a confused expression. 

"You...you gave it a paint job?" Steve asked with a quizzical expression. I smiled at him before swirling his keys around my pointer finger. My arm was stretched out so Steve could take them. 

"Yeah I did. Do you not like it?" I asked, my eyes darting to the motorcycle then back up to Steve. Steve continued to frown as he slowly took the keys that were around my finger before shifting on his feet uneasily. 

"I didn't pay for that though." Steve explained as he shook his head in disbelief. I had to admit, the confused expression that Steve was wearing was really cute. 

"No need, my treat. Just don't tell Fury because he might actually murder me and throw my body into the river never to be seen again." I rambled on. I felt like doing something with my hands now that I wasn't holding the keys so I just decided to stick them into my dirty jean pocket and stand up on my tip toes to try and be an inch taller. 

"Well...thank you. It looks nice." Steve said with a smile before he started fidgeting with the keys in his hand. Steve's blue eyes looked at the motorcycle then at the floor. His lips were twitching slightly like he wanted to say something.

"What's on your mind, Rogers? If you're so concerned with me getting in trouble with the paint-"

"No, no that's not what I was going to say." Steve quickly cut me off before chewing on his bottom lip. I raised my eyebrow and cocked my head to the side, waiting for Steve to continue. "I uh, I won't be coming over tonight." Steve mumbled under his breath. Just those few words made my heart sink in disappointment. I slowly nodded before looking up at the ceiling to try and not let my disappointment get to my face. 

"It's just, I forgot I already had plans. Plans I don't really want but my friend kinda hooked me up with these plans weeks ago and...I gotta follow through with it." Steve quickly tried to explain. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he felt extremely guilty that I gave his motorcycle a free coat of paint then he had to drop our plans that I made tonight. It's not like it was a date. I shouldn't be this disappointed. 

"No biggie." Was all I said as I now felt really awkward so I started shifting my weight from one side of me, to the other. 

"My friend, Bucky, thought it would be funny if he set me up a blind date." Steve continued to explain himself. I quickly shook my head.

"No, no I get it! You've been lonely for so long and need to get back out there in the world. Meet new people, I got it!" I said, saying almost exactly what Rhodey had told me two weeks ago. "I forgot I had plans tonight too." I quickly added with a nonchalant shrug. Yeah, my plans consisted of eating a tub of ice cream and watching reruns of jeopardy and getting almost every answer right. Steve's shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief. He probably didn't feel all that bad now and I tried not to let my hurt show.

"Okay awesome, thank you so much for my motorcycle. Can we maybe make another plan to do something else another day?" Steve suggested and I just nodded before going over to my desk and dig through my messy drawers. I could feel Steve behind me, watching my every move. I pulled out my business card that had my phone number written on it. I handed it to Steve and he took it thankfully. 

"I'll call you then!" Steve said and I gave him the best fake smile I could muster up. 

"I'll be counting on it." 

After Steve had left on his fixed up motorcycle, I sat down on my chair and slumped my shoulders. Clint was right, Steve was a guy I just met and know nothing about. Plus now he has a date with someone else who most likely isn't a guy. I don't stand a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was alright and I'm sorry if there was any spelling and grammar mistakes. I looked over it three times and couldn't find anything but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Plus I know it's going a little slow paced but I promise it will pick back up soon ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter is okay! It's not my best in my opinion but I'm working to get each chapter better and better! I'm sorry if there's any grammar or spelling errors. I edited it all last night and I was really tired so I could have missed some things. Anyways, hope ya'll like it! ^_^

A few months have gone by since that day in the lab when Steve turned me down to go on his blind date. I learned to live with this huge sorrow feeling in my chest. Life will still go on even without Steve in it. 

On some day’s we would run into each other in our apartment foyer. I’d be coming home from a slow day at work while he’d be leaving his apartment to go god knows where. We’d make small talk that consisted of mostly the weather and how it might start snowing soon. That small repetitive talk soon turned into discussing the latest football game that happened the weekend previously. Steve seemed all too happy to talk about that subject, he seems like the type of guy who probably even played football back in high school. I highly enjoyed talking with Steve, no matter how small and unimportant the talk was. He always listened to my own opinion and would know how to keep a conversation going and also know what to talk about next. Plus I learned a few things about Steve like he worked as a security guard at an art museum in the district and that he hated black olives on his pizza. 

One morning when I was down in the apartment lobby collecting my daily newspaper and checking my mail, I heard the elevator ding, signaling that it reached ground floor level, before the doors opened up and Steve casually walked out with his security uniform on, a ready-to-go plastic coffee mug in his hand. I looked up at him while I continued throwing away some junk mail in the tiny trash bin and damn I had a hard time looking away. That uniform on him did things to me that I probably shouldn’t admit to anybody.

“Hey!” Steve greeted with his usual cheerfulness as he leaned around my body to throw his empty plastic cup in the trash I was just using. I greeted him back before I looked down awkwardly at the newspaper in my hand, trying not to notice how close we were to each other. I could almost feel the heat radiating from his body on to me. Steve took a step back before pushing some strands of blond hair from his forehead. “I’m glad you’re down here because I wanted to talk to you about something.” Steve said. I noticed by the way his lips were twitching, that whatever he wanted to say excited him a little bit. Sometimes he’s too adorable for his own good. 

“Yeah what’s up? Got another motorcycle for me to spruce up?” I asked which made Steve look down at the ground and I heard him let out a small snicker of amusement. That made my heart skip a few beats as I tried to distract myself and fold up the newspaper in my hands to give Steve my full attention. 

“No, no more motorcycles. I, uh, one of my friends got a promotion at their job and we were all going to celebrate by going out to get a few drinks tonight. I would love it if you came.” Steve said as he started rubbing a piece of fabric from his shirt sleeve between his thumb and pointer finger. I perked up a little bit before trying not to act to excited.

“Yeah! I’d love to. So is it just gonna be me, you, Bucky, Natasha, and Sam?” I asked, slowly naming off his friends that Steve has talked briefly about to me during out morning talks in the hallway. Steve seemed to hesitate as he shifted his weight onto his other leg.

“And Sharon.” He quietly added, his cheeks started turning a light shade of pink and I got mildly jealous that I didn’t cause him to blush this time. I opened up my mouth to ask him who Sharon was before I put two and two together. Sharon was his blind date…well apparently his date went well. Of course now I really didn’t want to go but I already said I’d love to and if I magically just changed my mind, that could be skeptical on my part. 

“Okay just…text me the address of where it’s gonna be and I’ll be there.” I said. I gave Steve’s bicep a quick pat, feeling the smooth fabric of his uniform shirt under my hand. Steve seemed happy with my reply because he quickly nodded and took a step away from me as he motioned towards the door. 

“I’m going to be late for work, but I’ll see you tonight!” Steve said just as he walked out of the lobby’s glass doors. I didn’t even have time to open my mouth to respond before he was gone from view. 

Fuck, I shouldn’t have agreed to go hang out in the first place. Now I have to sit at the table watching Steve and Sharon make heart eyes at each other and play footsie underneath the table for two plus hours. 

Once six o’clock started to roll around, I found myself pacing back and forth in my bedroom, fidgeting with my fingers before I started biting on my thumb nail nervously. 

“It’s not a date.” Rhodey said from where he was casually spread out on my bed. 

“It’s not a date.” I repeated before poking my head into view of the mirror right above my dresser. 

“Repeat it again.”

“Rhodey, I know it’s not a date, okay? He has a girlfriend; or who I assume is his girlfriend.” I mumbled under my breath before applying some hair gel to my brown strands of hair that were sticking up as I listened to Rhodey who let out a dramatic sigh and the bed creaked as he sat up on the bed. 

“Just don’t get to involved, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt again, not after last time.” Rhodey said slowly as he carefully thought up each word as he said it like he was afraid he’d say something wrong. 

“Steve isn’t Ty.” I said with a nonchalant shrug before I snatched up my phone, wallet, and car keys from the bedside table. 

“Yeah but Ty wasn’t Ty until you got to know him. Just be careful.” Rhodey said as he comfortably laid a pat to my shoulder. I gave him a half crooked smile before giving a short nod. 

“Will do.” I replied before I headed out of my apartment and out onto the busy streets of New York. After the short five minutes of driving I had to do, I found myself parked in front of the bar that Steve had texted to me earlier that day. I let out a deep and calm sigh as I learned my head back against the headrest of my car. I can do this. It’s just like hanging out with a group of friends except I’m hanging out with a group of friends, a guy I really like, and his maybe girlfriend. After I calmed myself down a bit more, I stepped out into the cold air, the wind feeling like little needles hitting my face. I took the twenty steps it takes to the front door before I pushed it open with my forearm and stepped inside. The loud music from the stereos made my eardrums throb and the smell of cheap beer and French fries hit my nose. 

I decided to keep my coat on and not hang it by the door as I maneuvered my way through the sea of people and dancing bodies, my brown eyes darted all around the dimly lit bar until I spotted at least one familiar face near the corner of the room. Steve was sitting with who I assumed were his friends. I noticed a very pretty sandy blond hair girl next to Steve, laughing at whatever joke was told by someone else who I didn’t recognize. I put on the best grin that I could do and made my way towards the table. Steve’s whole face lit up and he beamed when he spotted me. 

“Hey! I thought you weren’t going to show for a second.” Steve said as he placed a menu near an empty seat next to him which I figured was where he wanted me to sit. I gave everyone else a quick smile before sitting down on the reserved chair, my elbows coming up to rest on the table. 

“Guys, this is my friend Tony.” Steve started to introduce and my facial expression softened when I was called Steve’s ‘friend.’ “And Tony, this is Bucky, Sam, Natasha, and Sharon.” Steve said, pointing to each one as he said their name. Natasha gave me a smirk and both Sam and Bucky gave me a quick and easy hi. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Tony.” Sharon said with her dashing smile, showing all teeth as she did so.

“Nice to meet you too.” I mumbled under my breath. Did I really mean it or not? Who knows? Steve lifted his hand up to signal over a waiter as I leaned back in my chair. 

“So who got a promotion?” I asked before everyone pointed at Bucky who smiled proudly as he reached over to the middle of the table to snag a fry. “Well congrats!” I said just as a young brunet haired man walked over to our table with a pen and paper in hand, ready to take down our drink orders. Everyone took turns ordering whatever beverage they wanted as the waiter swiftly jotted it down. 

I watched him leave before turning back to the people around the table. All of a sudden I felt very awkward sitting with these people. They were all talking among each other about their work and how their weekend went and what they have planned for tomorrow. Instead of contributing to the conversation, I started making a little origami bird with a piece of the napkin, not even paying attention to what they were talking about anymore until I heard my name be brought up.

“Tony graduated from MIT!” Steve said as he looked over at me with that big goofy smile that I love. I finally brought my head up to notice all eyes were on me. I don’t even remember telling Steve that I graduated from there, so I was confused as to how he got that info.

“Yeah, I did. Went there for five years.” I explained and Steve seemed pretty pleased and impressed with that answer. I made a mental note to ask Steve how he knew I went to school there. 

“Oh that’s so cool. What did you study?” Sharon asked as she leaned forward to look at me from where she sat on Steve’s other side. 

“I got my Master’s degree for electrical engineering and physics.” I said with ease like I was so used to telling people that. 

“What’s your IQ?” Bucky asked just as the Waiter came back over and started handing them their requested beverages. I glanced over at Steve who was still softly smiling at me. 

“I uh…I never actually look a real IQ test but my guess is around 200 or something, maybe 250.” I said and both Bucky and Sam whistled like they were impressed. I smiled to myself as I took a sip of the beer that now was in front of me. After that, it was much easier to talk to them. I found out that Sam used to be a Para rescue veteran and Bucky owned a coffee shop with Natasha. I actually started to enjoy myself a lot and even started ignoring the little giggles Sharon would make whenever Steve leaned over and whispered something to her. 

My third bottle of beer just got delivered over to me as I felt Natasha kick me from over underneath the table. I winced a little bit because she has one hell of a kick and I opened up my mouth to tell her that hurt but she was looking at something over my shoulder.

“Do you know that guy? He’s been staring at you for the past ten minutes.” Natasha whispered. I could barely hear her over the loud music but I heard enough for me to look around. When I did, I felt the color of my face turn completely white and my heart started falling out of my chest.

Ty. 

I haven’t told anyone about my ex-boyfriend or that I even like boys so I tried to keep my cool as I quickly looked back at my beer bottle, praying that Ty doesn’t come over here. I could feel Steve’s eyes on me but I refused to make eye contact with him. 

“Anthony Stark, what a pleasure seeing you here!” I heard Ty say from behind my seat. I closed my eyes as I didn’t respond. The heart ache and the memories came back like a train that hit me. The hole in my chest that Ty left was now reopening. 

“Can we help you?” I heard Steve ask once he realized I wasn’t going to say anything.

“I just saw my old buddy over here and thought I’d say hey. I didn’t know you moved here.” Ty said as he crossed his arms over his chest just as I looked up at him. My expression just screamed ‘get the fuck away from me you bitch,’ but of course I couldn’t say that because I didn’t want to draw attention to this awkward situation. Ty’s lips curved up into a smile as he could easily read what my expression meant. 

“Yeah…I moved here.” I said slowly, my brown eyes never leaving his. 

“Well if you ever get the chance, you should call me up. I know you still have my phone number.” Ty gave my shoulder a quick pat before he took the now crumpled up origami napkin from my hand and made his way over to the other side of the bar. 

“Who was that guy?” Sharon asked as she pushed some blonde hair behind her ear. 

“Just an ex friend.” I lied. It wasn’t technically a lie because he was an ex, just more than a friend. Everybody seemed content with that answer and started talking among themselves once more. I was about to take a much needed sip of alcohol when I noticed Steve still staring at me. His blue eyes softened and it looked like he wanted to pull me into a hug. I stared back at him, my brown eyes meeting his crystal blue eyes and we stayed like that for a good ten to fifteen seconds and just like that, I knew that Steve had figured out who Ty really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to make Friday's my official FFF(Fan Fiction Friday) where I update this story, start a new fic, or write a one shot! If you guys have any story ideas that you'd like written up, let me know! You can either let me know here and my Tumblr; captainstonyunited !! xD Thank you all for reading and see you next time, lovelies!


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